With Russia’s diminished influence in Syria, Ukraine calls on Israel to reconsider its stance and provide essential defensive weapons and technology.

Russian warships could be seen at a naval facility in Tartus earlier this month, but on Monday, they were gone.

Acting decisively now can undermine Russia's and Iran's positions in the Middle East and strengthen U.S. and European influence in the region.

Putin made the right choice, which was always driven by his rational calculation of what was in Russia’s objective interests as a state, not due to

Russia’s position in the Middle East now is in peril. Moscow has lost a key ally in Assad. Its other main allies, Iran and Hezbollah, are significantly weakened. Israel and Turkey, with whom the Kremlin has not had easy relations over the past few years, have been strengthened.

President Biden (remember him?) says the fall of Assad in Syria “is a direct result of the blows that Ukraine and Israel have delivered against Russia, Hamas and Hezbollah with unflagging support from the United States.

Foreign governments, including Russia, Iran, China and Israel, have responded to the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday.

Rebel forces in Syria said they have captured four cities in the past 24 hours and entered the capital Damascus.

The Russian military sites in Syria include a naval port on the Mediterranean Sea to berth submarines and an airfield to project power across the Middle East and Africa. But after rebels ousted Syria’s Kremlin-backed president, Bashar al-Assad, the future of these installations is uncertain.

Our columnists write how the house of cards that Vladimir Putin has so carefully stacked is folding before our eyes

Our columnists write how the house of cards that Vladimir Putin has so carefully stacked is folding before our eyes

Acting decisively now can undermine Russia’s and Iran’s positions in the Middle East and strengthen U.S. and European influence in the region.